We could earn a fee from hyperlinks on this web page.
In case you love the thought of monitoring your well being and health with a screenless band however don’t wish to pony up for a Whoop subscription, you may quickly have extra choices. Perhaps. Most likely: Three completely different Whoop-likes have popped up prior to now few weeks, however I am nonetheless murky on the small print of what they will supply, and none of them are (but) out there on the market to most of the people. So as from most to least more likely to be actual merchandise you should buy, they’re coming from Polar, Amazfit, and Garmin.
There’s lots of buzz round these units as a result of loads of of us would love a health tracker that isn’t a watch. Perhaps you have already got a mechanical watch and don’t want one other factor in your wrist; or possibly you don’t need something in your wrist in any respect and would love a pleasant comfortable armband as a substitute (it actually is straightforward to neglect you’re sporting the Whoop band, and it is my favourite placement after I’m within the gymnasium since a watch can get in the best way of some workouts).
Up to now, the one health band in the marketplace is Whoop, which makes use of a subscription mannequin. You pay for the service and get the machine at no cost, kind of—a well mannered fiction that falls aside each time the corporate declares a brand new {hardware} model and there transform a value to improve.
If a longtime health watch maker got here out with a screenless band, it would not instantly be a Whoop killer, as a result of it would be lacking out on Whoop’s app, which is actually the perfect factor about it and which clearly took a ton of growth effort to create. I wouldn’t anticipate any of those units to be true rivals to Whoop as a service, however the machine alone would give individuals another choice, and that is fairly cool.
You’ll suppose it’s simple to make a health band—simply design a watch however go away off the display screen. For no matter cause, this isn’t a product that different manufacturers have managed to launch, regardless of the potential demand. Till now, possibly! Right here’s what we all know concerning the three bands which may be coming to market this yr.
Polar’s band: formally introduced, however with out a picture or identify
Polar introduced at present that it’s popping out with a “brand-new product class” and also you’ll be capable to purchase the merchandise, no matter it’s, in September 2025. Polar describes it as a “screen-free wrist machine” and specifies that it is going to be “subscription-free.”
It is potential that this machine will probably be a shopper model of Polar 360, a screenless band that it has marketed towards companies. The use instances on the Polar 360 web site embrace company wellness, sports activities groups, and a few frankly dystopian-sounding worker monitoring for truck drivers. Machine reviewer DC Rainmaker mentioned in a video that he heard from a viewer who had purchased a few of these units by a enterprise, and so they value 90 euros every.
Amazfit’s Helio Strap: unique to Hyrox athletes (for now?)
Amazfit, in contrast, has images and a reputation for its machine. It’s referred to as the Helio Strap, and is at the moment solely out there for the 15 high athletes in Hyrox, a Crossfit-like sport. (Be aware that they don’t name it a “band” as a result of Amazfit already sells a number of merchandise in a Fitbit-like wristband form which have names like “Amazfit Band 7.”)
What do you suppose thus far?
The corporate is clearly planning to promote these to most of the people sooner or later, since their web site boasts about its battery life (11 days), variety of sport modes (27), and different issues that matter to potential prospects and never simply Hyrox spectators. Amazfit additionally specifies that there are not any subscription charges.
Much more promising, a product itemizing for an all-black (not Hyrox branded) model of the Amazfit Helio strap was reportedly stay on Walmart’s web site for a short second, with a price ticket of $79.99. Up to now there is no such thing as a phrase on when that product may launch for actual.
Garmin’s band: one tiny alleged leak
Garmin customers have lengthy been voicing hopes for a hoop or band in order that they will preserve feeding information into the Garmin ecosystem with out having to put on a sports activities watch each time they exit for a proper occasion. (It is a surprisingly widespread criticism/request/dilemma on the Garmin consumer subreddits.)
The thought of a Garmin band was leaked, possibly, to the web site The 5K Runner, which has a historical past of publishing Garmin leaks that typically come true. The put up on this potential machine was accompanied by an AI picture, thus making it look actual at first look—however nope, it was created by an algorithm that may’t even make a sleeping girl’s head seem like it’s connected to her physique, and definitely doesn’t have any perception into what Garmin could or will not be planning for a sleep band.
The author of The 5K Runner is “100%” sure that this can be a actual product, and predicts the launch date as “quickly, with August on the newest, and extra doubtless by the top of July.” However with out extra data, it’s exhausting to know whether or not we needs to be as sure. I requested a Garmin rep about this rumor, and so they declined to remark.
